Nicolas Batum on his last second triple-double attempt: ‘That is maybe the worst thing I’ve done in my career’

Portland Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum had a pretty good game going on Saturday night, entering the final seconds of the contest well on his way to an eight-point, 11-assist and 12-rebound outing in Portland’s 115-105 defeat of the San Antonio Spurs. Because we’re still weirdly obsessed with triple-doubles, though, Batum ended the evening with this needless shot attempt in the game’s final seconds:

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Eee-yikes. They don’t really hand out gold stars for 11-point, 11-assist, 12-rebound games on anonymous Saturday nights in the NBA’s first week of the season, but apparently that was what Batum was gunning for.

And, to steal a quote from the film ‘Harold and Maude,’ Batum immediately regrets his decision to shoot that superfluous three-pointer. From Joe Freeman at the Oregonian (via Pro Basketball Talk):

And in the middle of it all, just as that celebratory scene unfolded, Nicolas Batum stood with a look of horror on his face.

“That is maybe the worst thing I’ve done in my career,” Batum said.

[…]

“It went in — I was like, ‘Oh, no,” Batum said of his reaction. “I didn’t mean to disrespect this team. This is the San Antonio Spurs, the best team from the last 15 years in the NBA. I’ve never disrespected this team. I love this team. I have a lot of friends on this team.”